A bad way to address underperforming students?

drkitten said:
Given that something must be cut to address the racial gap
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I disagree. A 'racial gap' in results per se is not evidence of institutional racism.

The function of the school is to provide an equal opportunity for education, not to guarantee equal results.
 
Puppycow said:
I disagree. A 'racial gap' in results per se is not evidence of institutional racism.
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The laws of the United States disagree. And the school district is responsible for obeying them, not obeying you.
 
It seems to me that neglecting the education of gifted students to focus more resources on educating struggling students won't maximize the ultimate benefit to society of education. A single Jonas Salk or Norman Borlaug benefits society much more than 100 middle managers for Wal-mart. The purpose of science labs is not to make every student a scientist, but to nurture (invest in) the gifted few, some of whom will have a fabulous return on investment for society.
 
Puppycow said:
It seems to me that neglecting the education of gifted students to focus more resources on educating struggling students won't maximize the ultimate benefit to society of education. A single Jonas Salk or Norman Borlaug benefits society much more than 100 middle managers for Wal-mart. The purpose of science labs is not to make every student a scientist, but to nurture (invest in) the gifted few, some of whom will have a fabulous return on investment for society.
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This is what I think is the reason for teaching to the least common ability level of the entire class is so common (or seems to be). Why bother teaching the few gifted students anything worthwhile, when they are likely to figure things out on their own?

(I hope the snarcasm of that last sentence is obvious.)
 
Puppycow said:
It seems to me that neglecting the education of gifted students to focus more resources on educating struggling students won't maximize the ultimate benefit to society of education. A single Jonas Salk or Norman Borlaug benefits society much more than 100 middle managers for Wal-mart. The purpose of science labs is not to make every student a scientist, but to nurture (invest in) the gifted few, some of whom will have a fabulous return on investment for society.
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Well, that's an educational theory, certainly.

It's not one that is very popular in the United States (it's much more popular in the UK and Europe, especially historically).

Where it falls down is that high school is not where you produce the Jonas Salks. In fact, high school is actually a lousy spot even to talent-spot the Jonas Salks. Science labs seem to be much more effective at producing lots of scientists if you run lots of potential science students through them, including students who you would not have believed to have much capacity.

The effectiveness of the American vs. European models of education (trying to educate everyone vs concentrating education on the gifted, respectively) have track records. The American model seems to produce much more high-end scientists (look at the ratio, for example, of Nobel prizes to population, or the per-capita productivity in terms of papers and patents).
 
drkitten said:
Well, that's an educational theory, certainly.

It's not one that is very popular in the United States (it's much more popular in the UK and Europe, especially historically).

Where it falls down is that high school is not where you produce the Jonas Salks. In fact, high school is actually a lousy spot even to talent-spot the Jonas Salks. Science labs seem to be much more effective at producing lots of scientists if you run lots of potential science students through them, including students who you would not have believed to have much capacity.

The effectiveness of the American vs. European models of education (trying to educate everyone vs concentrating education on the gifted, respectively) have track records. The American model seems to produce much more high-end scientists (look at the ratio, for example, of Nobel prizes to population, or the per-capita productivity in terms of papers and patents).
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It's important to point out, also, that Berkeley high school is not proposing eliminating of the science labs themselves. They're proposing no longer opening the labs for optional extra use during non-class times before and after school hours.

Everyone will still have science class, and all the science classes will have access to the science labs during class time, plus, the money saved by not keeping the labs open those extra hours will be used to improve the quality of instruction during regular science class--when all the students are present instead of just the few who come early or stay late.

Link.
 
Fnord said:
This is what I think is the reason for teaching to the least common ability level of the entire class is so common (or seems to be). Why bother teaching the few gifted students anything worthwhile, when they are likely to figure things out on their own?

(I hope the snarcasm of that last sentence is obvious.)
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It both is and is (as may be clear with other comments I have made)my major problem with education as she are done at here(US public schools).
 
Prometheus said:
It's important to point out, also, that Berkeley high school is not proposing eliminating of the science labs themselves. They're proposing no longer opening the labs for optional extra use during non-class times before and after school hours.

Everyone will still have science class, and all the science classes will have access to the science labs during class time, plus, the money saved by not keeping the labs open those extra hours will be used to improve the quality of instruction during regular science class--when all the students are present instead of just the few who come early or stay late.

Link.
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Oh, OK. That article explains it better. Meh, budgets are tight due to the recession, so this seems like a reasonable cut if something must be cut.
 
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